Back in the swing of things, almost

 Week Ending 13 March 2021 

Well, it's been almost a year of disruption, our last proper day working was 19 March 2020. This year there are no race trains, the Cheltenham Festival will go ahead behind closed doors next week, this will leave a huge hole in the local economy, the festival is the highlight of the jump season and draws crowds of over 100,000. Two gangs out last week, one on Tuesday and the other of Friday. 

Tuesday saw Dave and Nigel head off to Broadway, word had been passed that intruders were gaining access to the site by crawling under the palisade gates at the Springfield Lane end. The solution decided on was to bring up some hollow blocks removed from Gretton and Postcrete them in the gap. There's some old stock stored in the headshunt at Broadway so this made access a bit of pain as all the kit had to be carried along the six foot between the stock. 

Tuesday pictures from Dave. 

Permaquip trolley loaded with kit for the first leg of the trip 

Gap under the gate, might be rather big rabbits 😁

Dave and Nigel drew straws to see who would go for the block and who would dig a trench under the gate to place them. They both drew the short straw as both jobs were hard work. 

Loading the blocks at Culvert 24A, Royal Oak, Gretton 

Road - rail transfer at Broadway Station 

Next leg is to carry them along past the parked stock 

Spirit level out, proper job 👍

Blocks concreted in with Postcrete 

Scratch your way through there now! 

After all that exertion, they had a look under Springfield lane bridge to check the cess drains that carry the Broadway station surface water north. 

Lids dropped in! not sure what the 
attraction of this is 

Top ring removed for reseating 

Anti-vandal lids added to both drains 
with more Postcrete to secure the rings  

Job finished 

Overall, it was a bit of rude awakening after lockdown, a bit too much exertion for the first day back. 

Friday 12th and it was the expanded squad of Andrew, Martin and Michael down the other end of the line. That was after a stop-off at Bridge 6 at Laverton following a report of flooding under the bridge. Nothing too drastic, it was about 300mm deep so traffic was still getting through. After getting the gullies cleared the gang headed off to Bishops Cleeve to pick up on the culvert inspections where they left off last week. 

Pictures from Andrew unless marked. 

Bridge 6 at the beginning of February this year, 
a bit of water doesn't stop the locals 
(Picture: John B) 

Usual problems here, silt washed down from
 the fields blocking the gullies 

Gulley drains cleared out 

Surface water has drained away 

Inspection starting point was Culvert 38A down side, the up side is in somebody's garden so it's not accessible. 

Culvert 38A d/s headwall 

Culvert 38A d/s makeshift bridge 

Tracking down to Culvert 37G
this runs under the old farm track under the bridge 

Ash sapling growing near the running line
a perennial issue along here 

Near Bridge 37, more diggings
possibly 🦡

Low mileage end of the soil nails at Bridge 37 - 
marker post still in line 

Culvert 35A d/s at Gotherington 
Doesn't look like it's seen much flooding  

On the way back to base, the gang called at Dixton to look at the washed out gravel on the low mileage side of Bridge 33. This was reported back in February, but it wasn't causing an obstruction to the line so it was safe to leave it until work resumed. The gravel in the four foot was cleared away, the rest will be bagged up and taken away for reuse. Some spare 40-20mm stone will be used for backfilling when time allows. 

Pea gravel washout on the counterfort drain at 
Bridge 33 down side 
(Picture: Neil C)